Apparatus for treating tubular knitted fabric



Sept 7, 1965 F. N. HURT ETAL 3,204,317

APPARATUS FOR TREATING TUBULAR KNITTED FABRIC F'iled Feb. l2, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 APPARATUS FOR TREATING TUBULAR KNITTED FABRIC Filed Feb. 12, 1963 Sept. '7, 1965 F. N. HUR-r ETAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 7, 1965 F. N. HURT ETAL 3,204,317

APPARATUS FOR TREATING TUBULAR KNITTED FABRIC Filed Feb. l2, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent O 3,204,317 APPARATUS FOR TREATING TUBULAR KNITTED FABRIC Francis Neil Hurt, Nottingham, and Dennis Reynolds, Clifton Estate, England, assignors to The Hosiery and Allied Trades Research Association, Nottingham, England Filed Feb. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 253,006 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 13, 1962, 5,435/62 8 Claims. (Cl. 26-55) This invention relates to improvements in the treatment of tubular fabrics.

In the shrink resistant treatment of knitted tubular fabric, the fabric is stretched widthwise to beyond the width required in relaxed state thereby to cause lengthwise contraction of the fabric to a predetermined lengthwise condition required in the relaxed state, i.e. in respect of the number of courses per inch, and then the fabric is `shortened widthwise to the width required in relaxed state while maintaining said lengthwise condition.

An object of the invention is to provide for the attainment `of such a lengthwise condition in the fabric that it is substantially free from subsequent laundering shrinkage in this direction, with the option of subsequently subjecting the fabric, or not doing so as desired, to a widthwise reducing treatment to substantially free the fabric from laundering shrinkage in the widthwise direction, bearing in mind that the latter treatment is not essential for underwear but is desirable for outerwear.

Another object of the invention is to effect a widthwise stretching of the fabric while maintaining the fabric under substantially lengthwise tensionless conditions.

The invention provides apparatus for the shrink resistant treatment of knitted tubular fabric by mechanically stretching the fabric widthwise and contracting it lengthwise, with or without a following operation of maintaining the contracted length and mechanically contracting the fabric widthwise, the apparatus comprising an inner extendible stretcher frame and at least two pairs of outer fabric feeding rollers spaced lengthwise of the frame to provide lengthwise spaced driving locations for the fabric on the frame. The invention also provides apparatus for the shrink resistant treatment of tubular fabric by extending it about a stretcher appliance having longitudinally spaced side edge portions shaped for widthwise stretching of the fabric, said side edge portions having co-operating with them drive members disposed exteriorly of the fabric, these drive members being driven positively for travel of the fabric so that the widthwise stretch is progressive along the fabric, and suitable operating means are provided for the drive members to progressively increase the speed of operation thereof towards the fabric feed end, such that, in the widthwise stretching of the fabric, the drive members allow consequent lengthwise contraction of the fabric with substantially no lengthwise tension therein.

Conveniently the drive members are carried by bars which are relatively adjustable exteriorly of the fabric into attitudes of varying divergence, the stretcher appliance being self expandible to maintain itself co-operating with the drive members in any position `of the latters adjustment, and suitable means co-relating the drive of the drive members with their widthwise adjustment such that any widthwise adjustment of the drive members is automatically accompanied by appropriate speed adjustment thereof, the adjustment being effected at any time required including while the apparatus is in operation. The nal widthwise spacing may be adjusted automatically as well as manually.

Conveniently said drive members are anged wheels ICC registering with arcuate recesses in outwardly spring biased side stretcher bars `of the stretcher appliance to 1ocate the latter in position, and the outer side edge portions of said bars between said recesses are generally disposed to converge from the fabric feed end to minimize travel resisting strain on the fabric. Rollers are conveniently provided on the outer side edges of the stretcher bars to minimize friction on the fabric.

For obtaining the co-relation between the adjustment and the drive, the flanged wheels are conveniently driven each by a ratchet mechanism and a central comm-on operating member through the intermediary of slotted pawl levers of different lengths for different pairs of the flanged wheels. Conveniently the ratchet mechanisms are of two-way acting type to give a racking stroke to the flanged wheels by both a push and a pull of the operating member, the latter being hand or power operated. Alternatively other systemsI such as one involving the use of one-way clutches may be used to translate the reciprocating motion toa one-way motion.

The aforegoing and other features of the invent-on set out in the appended claims are embodied in the construction which will be hereinafter particularly described in greater detail by way of example with reference to the drawings accompanying the application yand in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of apparatus for treating tubular fabric according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged detail view of a fabric control device in the apparatus.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional plan View illustrating tubular fabric being stretched according to the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a general perspective view of the complete apparatus.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged perspective view of feed roller mechanism in the apparatus.

FIGURE 6 is .an enlarged perspective view -of drive means for the feed roller device.

FIGURE 7 is a detailed view :of part of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged perspective view of drive connections to a feed wheel in the device.

Referring to the drawings the apparatus, FIGURE 1, comprises a -suitable supporting frame work represented by bars 1 on which there is mounted a reciprocatory oper-ating bar 2 and .a pair of -adjusting screws 3, 4.

A knitted tubular fabric web F, FIGURE 3, is passed through the apparatus from left to right and disposed Iwithin. the fabric tube there is a stretcher frame 5.

The stretcher frame 5 is composed of spaced stretcher bars 6, 7 having formed in their outer side edges spaced arcuate recesses 8, 9, 10, 8", 9', 10', and two pairs of links 11, 12 and 13, 14 which connect adjacent ends of the stretcher bars 6, 7 to a central bridge piece 15, 16, one at each end; the two bridge pieces are spring biased towards each other by a tension spring 17 which is connected at one end to the bridge piece 15 and is connected at its other end to an adjusting screw 18, the latter being connected to the other bridge piece 16. The end links 11, 12, 13 and 14 extend from -the ends of the stretcher bars 6, 7 outwardly so that the effect of the` spring 17 biasing the bridge pieces 15, 16 towards each other is to bias the stretcher bars away from each other. Conveniently between the recesses 8, 8', 9, 9', 10, 10', outer edge positions 19, 19 of the stretcher bars 6, 7 incline towards the inner edges 19a, 19a' thereof such that in substantially all positions of adjustment said edge positions 19, 19 of the two bars converge towards the wide end of the stretcher frame 5, to provide for unstrained progress of the fabric at these locations. At each angular location in the outer edges 19, 19 of the stretcher bars 6, 7 there is a friction reducing roller 20 to minimize friction on the fabric.

Each of the aforesaid adjusting screws 3, 4 have turn- 3 ing handles 21, 21a and each of the screws has oppositely screw threaded portions 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b with which there engages screw nut ends 22a, 22h, 23a, 23b of side bars 22, 23 disposed exteriorly of the fabric.

More specifically the side bars 22, 23 rotatably mount spacedwheels 24, 25, 26, 24', 25', 26', in suitable manner to register and co-operate with the arcuate recesses 8, 9, 10,8', 9', 10', respectively, in the stretcher frame 5.

Said wheels 24, 25, 26, 24', 25', 26' are each flanged as shown in FIGURE 2, the anges such as 24a, 24b overlapping margins of the stretcher bars thereby to act as supports for the stretcher frame 5. It will be further understood that the stretcher frame 5 is located against ltravel with the fabric, by engagement of the wheels 24, 25, 26, 24', 25', 26' on the bars 22, 23 in the recesses 8, 9, 10, 8', 9', 10' of the stretcher frame 5.

The wheels are adapted to be driven all in the same direction for travel of the fabric lengthwise about the stretcher frame 5 by frictional engagement of the wheels with the fabric in the arcuate recesses in the stretcher frame, the wheels if desired having a suitable friction surface applied thereto.

For driving the wheels, there is mounted freely on each axle such as 24C for wheel 24 in FIGURE 2, one end of a link such as 27 which carries a pawl 28 cooperating with a ratchet wheel 29, the latter being secured on said axle 24e of the wheel 24.

The links 27 have end slots 27a, FIGURE 1, and are progressively of greater length from left to right in FIG- URE 1. Each pair of links from each pair of opposed wheels are connected together by a pin 30 extending through the respective slots 27a, and three pins 30 are carried by the aforesaid reciprocatory operating bar 2. By this means the wheels can be racked forwards by a pushing motion of the operating bar 2.

Conveniently there is also a quadrant gear lever 27g pivoted at 27b to an anchor plate 27e and having a slot 27d engaged by a peg 27e on the lever 27. There i-s further provided -a lever 31 mounted -freely on said axle .24e and having -a pawl 31a engaging the ratchet wheel 29 secured on said axle, and on this lever 31 there is a quadrant gear lever 31b pivoted at 31-c to the anchor plate 27C .and having la slot 31d engaged by 4a peg 31e on said lever 31. {By this means each push of the operating bar 2 to rack the wheels, by pawls 28, sets pawls 31a so that each pull of bar 2 racks the wheels by pawls 31a.

If desired the operating bar 2 may be automatically operated by suitable drive means, as described below in connection with FIGURE 4.

In operation of the apparatus and assuming the tubular fabric to be disposed about the stretcher frame 5 as in FIGURE 3, the handles 21', 21a are adjusted to impart t-o the bars 22, 23 a required degree of divergence in the direction of travel of the fabric suitable to impart the desired widthwise stretch to the fabric, it being understood that for any position of adjustment of the bars 22, 23, the stretcher bars 6, 7 continue their association with the wheels by the spring bias of thespring 17.

The operating bar 2 is then operated to drive the wheels thereby to traverse the fabric lengthwise, the fabric following a path into and out of the recesses 8, 9, 10, 8', 9', 10'.

The manner in which the wheels 24-26' are driven is believed to be clear. As the operating bar 2 reciprocates it will necessarily swing the several links 27 about the axes of rotation of the several wheels, respectively.

The pawls 28 which are connected to the links 27 will turn the ratchet wheels 29 which are respectively xed to the wheels in one direction during swinging of the links 27 lin one direction.

Thus, these pawls will turn the wheels 24, 25, 26 of FIG. 1 in a counterclockwise direction and wheels 24', 25', 26' of FIG. 1 in a clockwise direction so that in this way the fabric will be advanced from the left toward the right in FIG. 1 so as to progress from the narrow end of the frame 5 to the wide end thereof. During reverse swinging of the levers 27, the pawls 28 will simply ride along the ratchet wheels 29 so that no drive will be transmitted thereto atl this time by the pawls'28. However, at this time the several gear sectors 27g will swing the several gear sectors 31b in a direction opposed to the direction of turning of the gear sectors 27g, so that the extensions 31 of the links 27 will now turn in an opposite direction about the axis of the wheels, respectively, and the pawls 31a which 4are xed to the link extensions 31 will continue` to rotate the ratchet wheels 29 in the same direction that they were previously rotated by the pawl i 28. Thus, it will be seen that while the pawls 28 drive the ratchet wheels the pawls 31a ride over the teeth thereof and while the pawls 31a drive the ratchet wheels the pawls 28 ride over the teeth thereof, and in this way the wheels are continuously rotated with the wheels 24, 25, 26 of FIG. 1 continuously rotating in a counterclockwise direction and the wheels 24', 2S', 26' continuously rotating in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, all during longitudinal recipr/ocation of the operating bar 2.

With respect to the manner in which the speed of the several wheels is automatically varied for differences in widthwise stretch, it will be noted that the operating or reciprocating bar 2 reciprocates in a plane which is situated midway between and which extends parallel to the axes of rotation of the several wheels. The several links 27 are connected to the several wheels for respective rotation about the axes thereof, and at the same time these links have pin-and-slot connections with the reciprocatory bar 2 so that in response to reciprocation of the bar 2 the swinging links 27 will rotate the wheels in the manner described above. As the distance between the pairs of aligned wheels 24, 24', 25, 25', and 26, 26' is adjusted the effective lengths of the links 27 will also be automatically adjusted because of the movement of the slots 27a relative to the pins 30. Therefore, the greater the distance between the pairs of aligned Wheels the longer will be the eective lengths of the links 27, and in fact in FIG. 1 the links 27 which are swingable about the axes of the pair of aligned wheels 25 have longer effective lengths than the links 27 which are swingable about the axes of the aligned wheels 24, 24', and also the effective lengths of the links 27 which are swingable about the axes of the aligned wheels 26, 26' are longer than the effective lengths of the links swingable about the axes of the wheels 25, 25'. Since the distance through which the bar 2 is reciprocated is identical for each pair of links 27 which cross over each other, it is clear that the extent of movement of the bar 2 is transmitted by a link 27 which is of a shorter effective length for pairs of wheels which are closer to each other than for pairs of wheels which are further apart from each other, so that the identical extent of linear movement of the reciprocating bar 2 will be transmitted to the aligned Wheels 24, 24' by links 27 of shorter effective length than the effective length of the links transmitting this same movement of the bar 2 to the wheels 25, 25', and in the same way the effective length of the links 27 transmitting the movement of the bar 2 to the aligned wheels 26, 26' is greater than the efective lengths of the links which transmit this same extent of movement of the bar 2 to the aligned wheels 25, 25'. As a result, the wheels 25 and 25' will be turned through a smaller angle than the wheels 24 and 24 for a given stroke of the bar 2 and the wheels 26 and 26' will be turned through an angle smaller than that through which the wheels 25 and 25" are turned for the same stroke of the bar 2. Inasmuch as the pairs of aligned Wheels which are at progressively greater distances from each other necessarily turn through lesser angles in lthe same period of time that the pairs of wheels which are closer to each other turn through larger angles, it follows that those wheelsk that are closer to each other will turn at a higher rate of speed than those wheels which are further apart from each other, and this feature is brought about simply by the automatic adjustment of the effective length of the links 27, as is apparent from the above discussion. Thus, not only will the change in the 4effective lengths of the links 27 provide progressively slower speeds for the pairs of aligned wheels which are progresively located further apart from each other from the narrow end to the wide end of the frame, as shown in FIG. l, but in addition when the distances between the wheels are adjusted the effective lengths of the links 27 will also be automatically adjusted so as to provide in this way an automatic adjustment of the speed with which the wheels are rotated, and the adjustment is always such that the wheels will turn at a lesser speed as the distance therebetween increases.

By virtue of the divergence of the bars 22, 23 the leverage of the different pairs of links is progressively less towards the narrow end of the stretcher frame 5, with the result that the speed of rotation of the wheels is progressively greater towards this end, the arrangement for obtaining a predetermined length condition of the fabric being such that the wheels are adjusted to impart appropriate Widthwise stretch to the fabric, and consequent contraction of the fabric to the wide end of the apparatus is allowed for by the differential speed of the wheels so that substantially no lengthwise tension is imparted to the fabric. This treatment is conveniently carried out under steam or other medium for heating of the fabric.

A feature of the apparatus is that by similarly adjusting both the adjusting screws 3 and 4, the apparatus is suitable for various widths of fabric.

' A further feature of the apparatus is that the adjusting screws 3, 4 can be adjusted at any time, including during operation of the apparatus, to vary the widthwise stretch.

A particular use of the apparatus is in treating the fabric to obtain a predetermined lengthwise condition by stretching the fabric to greater width than that eventually required when in relaxed state, as a precedent or otherwise to shortening the width to required relaxed Width while maintaining the relaxed length, for rendering the fabric substantially proof against shrinkage by subsequent laundering.

The shortening of the Width may be achieved by steam or heat treatment with or without a width reducer of mechanical form.

A further use of the apparatus is as a substantially lengthwise tensionless fabric drive to calendering rollers whose speed of rotation is related to the speed of the final pair of wheels 26, 26 by a fixed train of gears. Thus the calender rollers rotat`e at a rate dependent upon the output of the fabric from the final wheels 26, 26' so as not to cause any additional stresses on the fabric while it travels between the wheels 26, 26 and the calender rollers.

A complete apparatus as shown FIGURE 4 basically consists vof the mechanism as hereinbefore described mounted on a support frame 32 with the following modications.

There is provided an electric motor 33 which drives, through belt and pulley means 34, an eccentric 3S which is connected by means 36 to a bar 37 which is the equivalent of the aforesaid recprocatory operating bar 2. The bar 37 is supported in end bearings 38, 39 and its reciprocation is effected under power from said motor 33.

There is further provided feed rollers 40, 41 mounted on support frames 42, 43 and having associated steam spray pipes 43', 44 connected to suitable means 45 providing steam under pressure.

As shown in FIGURE 5 the feed rollers 40, 41 are interconnected by gears 46, 47 and the latter gear 47 being driven by drive chains 48. In addition the rollers are turnable manually through a one-Way pawl and ratchet mechanism 49 by a hand wheel 50. The upper roller- 40 is vertically adjustable against spring means 51 through bevel gearing 52, and S3 (FIGURE 4) by a hand wheel 54.

The driving chains 48 are driven through a sprocket wheel 5S, FIGURE 6, and a bevel pinion 56 which is keyed on a spindle 57 and which is carried by a bracket 58 (FIGURE 6) that is connected pivotally by a pivot 59 to a bracket 60 attached to the side bar 22, FIG- URE 6.

Meshing with the bevel gear 56 there is a second level gear 61 on an axle 62 which extends up through the bracket 60, to the wheel 26. To allow for the axle 62, the associated quadrants 126, 127 (equivalent to the quadrants 27g, 31h) are separated and are interconnected by pinions 63, 64.

Ratchet mechanism for converting the reciprocation of the bar 37 to rotation of the wheel 26 conveniently consists of superimposed ratchet wheels 65, 66 having the teeth in the same direction but out of phase, and each ratchet wheel having two pawls at opposite sides as shown for the wheel 25 in FIGURE 8 at 67, 68, 69, 70. This arrangement is such that the reciprocation of the bar 37 results in substantially continuous rotation of the wheels 24-26, it being understood that similar ratchet mechanism is provided for each wheel. If desired there may be means for detecting the final width of the fabric and suitable means influenced by the detection to effect rotation of the adjustment means automatically as and when necessary. Any suitable system such as one involving the use of one-way clutches may be used to translate the reciprocating motion to a one-way motion.

What we claim is:

1. For use in the treatment of tubular fabric, a stretcher frame having a pair of stretcher bars inclined away from each other from a narrow end of said frame to a wide end thereof, said frame being adapted to be placed within a tube of fabric which advances along said frame from said narrow end to said wide end thereof, said bars having at least two pairs of aligned outer side edge portions arranged successively along the said bars with one of saidv pairs of aligned side edge portions located nearer to said narrow end of said frame than the other pair of aligned outer side edge portions, said other pair of aligned outer side edge portions having nearer to said narrow end of said frame ends which are spaced apart from each other by a distance greater than any part of said one pair of aligned outer side edge portions and each pair of aligned outer side edge portions of said bars converging toward said wide end of said frame so as to provide for unstrained progress of the fabric along said pairs of aligned outer side edge portions of said bars.

2. The combination of claim 1, and wherein said bars have curved concave outer edge portions extending from the trailing ends of said one pair of outer side edge portions which are nearest to said wide end of Said frame to the forward ends of said other pair of outer side edge portions which are nearest to said narrow end of said frame, and a pair of wheels having peripheries and respectively located closely adjacent to said curved outer edge portions of said bars for engaging a tube of fabric in which said frame is located and advancing the latter along said curved outer edge portions of said bars from said one pair of aligned outer side edge portions to said other pair of aligned outer side edge portions.

3. The combination of claim 1 and including at least two pairs of aligned wheels between which said frame is located with said wheels located closely adjacent to outer side edges of said frame to engage a fabric and advance the latter along the said frame, one of said pairs of aligned wheels being located nearer to said narrow end of said frame than the other pair of wheels and being spaced from each other by a distance of less than that between said other pair of wheels, and means for rotating said pairs of wheels at progressively slower rates of speed by rotating the said other pair of wheels at a speed less than that at which said one pair of Wheels are rotated to compensate for the reduction in the length of the tube of fabric as its width increases.

4. The combination of claim 1 and including a plurality of pairs of aligned wheels between which said frame is located with said wheels located closely adjacent to outer side edges of said bars for engaging a fabric and advancing the latter along said frame, said pairs of .wheels being progressively laterally spaced at greater distances from each other from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame, each said pair of wheels being located adjacent the ends of respective aligned side edge portions of said frame, the side edge portions adjacent a wheel curving conformingly around the periphery of the wheel to connect to the next successive edge portion, and means operatively connected to said Wheels for rotating said pairs of wheels at progressively slower rates of speed from said narrow end of said frame to said wide end thereof, so that the wheels will advance the tube of fabric at progressively slower rates which compensate for the shortening in the length of the fabric as its width increases.

5. For use in the treatment of a tube of fabric, stretcher frame means having a pair of stretcher bars which are inclined away from each other from a narrow end of said stretcher frame means to a wide end thereof, said frame means being adapted to be placed within a tube of fabricA for increasing the width thereof and decreasing the length.

thereof as the tube of fabric progresses along said frame means from said narrow end to said wide end thereof, a plurality of pairs of aligned wheels between which said stretcher frame means is located with the said pairs of aligned wheels located closely adjacent to outer side edges of said bars for engaging a tube of fabric thereon and advancing the fabric along said bars from said narrow end to said wide end of said stretcher frame means, said pairs of aligned wheels being located at progressively greater lateral distances from each other from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame means, adjusting means operatively connected to said wheels for adjusting the lateral distances between said pairs of aligned wheels while maintaining them at progressively greater lateral distances from each other from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame means, said stretcher frame means responding-automatically to adjustment of said wheels for maintaining said outer side edges of said bars closely adjacent to the peripheries of said wheels, and drive means operatively connected to said wheels for rotating the latter to advance fabric along said frame means from said narrow end to said wide end thereof, said drive means rotating said pairs of aligned wheels at progressively slower speeds from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame means so as to compensate for a reduction in the length of a tube of fabric as its width increases, and said drive means automatically reducing the speed of rotation of said pairs of aligned wheels when the distance therebetween is increased by said adjusting means, and said drive means also automatically increasing the speed of rotation of said pairs of aligned wheels as the distance therebetween is decreased by said adjusting means, so that Whenever said adjusting means is actuated said drive means will automatically provide for said wheels a speed commensurate with the adjustment.

6. For use in the treatment of a tube of fabric, a stretcher frame having a pair of stretcher bars inclined away from each other from a narrow end of said frame to a wide end thereof, said frame being adapted to be situated within a tube of fabric for increasing the width thereof and reducing the length thereof as the fabric progresses along said frame from said narrow end to said wide end thereof, a plurality of pairs of aligned wheels between which said frame is located with outer side edges of said stretcher bars located closely adjacent to peripheries of said wheels so that said wheels can engage a fabric and advance the latter along said stretcher bars, said pairs of aligned wheels being progressively spaced at greater lateral distances from each other from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame and said wheels respectively having predetermined axes of rotation which pass through the centers of said wheels, a plurality of links operatively connected to said wheels for swinging movement about said axes of rotation thereof, respectively, the links surrounding the aXes of rotation of each pair of aligned wheels extending toward and crossing over each other in a plane which is parallel to and situated midway between said axes of rotation of said wheels, an elongated reciprocating bar situated in said plane for reciprocation therein and operatively connected to said links for swinging the latter back and forth about said axes of rotation, respectively, and means for rotating all of said wheels in one direction in response to the swinging movement of said links about said axes for advancing fabric along said frame, said links having progressively longer lengths from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame for rotating said wheels at progressively slower speeds from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame so as to compensate for the reduction in the length of the tube of fabric as its width increases.

7. The combination of claim 6, and wherein an adjustingmeans is operatively connected to said wheels for adjusting the lateral distances therebetween while maintaining said lateral distances progressively greater from said narrow end to said wide end of said frame, said links respectively being formed with longitudinal slots and said reciprocating bar having pins situated in said slots, so that said links have pin-and-slot connections with said reciprocating bar so as to automatically changev their effective lengths in response to adjustment of the lateral distances between said pairs of aligned wheels for automatically providing for said wheels a slower speed of rotation as the lateral distances between the pairs of aligned wheels are increased and higher speeds of rotatation as the lateral distances between pairs of alignedwheels are decreased.

8. The combination of claim 7, and wherein said frame responds automatically to adjustment of the lateral distances between said pairs of aligned wheels to maintain the outer side edges of said stretcher bars adjacent thev peripheries of said wheels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS- DONALD W, PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. FOR USE IN THE TREATMENT OF TUBULAR FABRIC, A STRETCHER FRAME HAVING A PAIR OF STRETCHER BARS INCLINED AWAY FROM EACH OTHER FROM A NARROW END OF SAID FRAME TO A WIDE END THEREOF, SAID FRAME BEING ADAPTED TO BE PLACED WITHIN A TUBE OF FABRIC WHICH ADVANCES ALONG SAID FRAME FROM SAID NARROW END TO SAID WIDE END THEREOF, SAID BARS HAVING AT LEAST TWO PAIRS OF ALIGNED OUTER SIDE EDGE PORTIONS ARRANGED SUCCESSIVELY ALONG THE SAID BARS WITH ONE OF SAID PAIRS OF ALIGNED SIDE EDGE PORTIONS LOCATED NEARER TO SAID NARROW END OF SAID FRAME THAN THE OTHER PAIR OF ALIGNED OUTER SIDE EDGE PORTIONS, SAID OTHER PAIR OF ALIGNED OUTER 